


Old Enemy, New Friends

by Listentothelittlebird



Series: Code Bat [26]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Robin: Son of Batman (Comics)
Genre: (after being beaten up), ...is it murder if they unanimate his body?, Alternate Universe, Code Bat, Damian Wayne Gets a Hug, Damian’s clone makes an appearance and dies (again), Gen, Identity Reveal, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listentothelittlebird/pseuds/Listentothelittlebird
Summary: They were just supposed to have a relaxing afternoon catching up with each other. They were not supposed to be kidnapped and taken to an unknown location....who is that?(Damian meets again with someone he would rather forget.)
Relationships: Damian Wayne & Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne & Suren Darga & Maya Ducard, Damian Wayne & Tim Drake, Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi & Damian Wayne & Colin Wilkes, Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent
Series: Code Bat [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964452
Comments: 73
Kudos: 435





	1. Old Enemy and New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody:  
> Me: Wait, Damian’s clone got revived?  
> My brain, whispering: D o i t
> 
> (According to internet googling, Damian’s clone killed Damian in the first place, got his head decapitated by Talia when he was then defeated, and got revived by some rogue League members via the Lazarus pit. Hoo-whee.)

The moment Damian woke up, he knew something was wrong.

For one, he was bound. The comms unit that was usually nestled in his ear was absent. He could feel his body armour pressed around him, the stretch of his domino mask, but the wind on his cheeks, meaning his Canvas mask had been ripped off.

He could hear Maya and Suren beside him, quietly panicking.

“There’s some sort of interference,” Maya sighed in frustration, “I can’t get out a distress signal. Suren, can you do some magic-thing? Send a magic envelope for help?”

“I also seem to be hindered,” Suren admitted, “There is a dull magic barrier around the building. I can only cast magic within that border. Communication spells would not work outside the radius.”

“Great,” Maya groaned, “And D’s still unconscious.”

Damian’s hands were cuffed near his face. He shifted until he could reach the sleeve of his robe, biting down on the whistle beneath it. He blew three times in quick succession, silently wondering whether Goliath would even hear it.

Damian would just have to hope Goliath would hear it, and recognise the signal to seek one of his brothers before coming towards him. Until then, they were on their own.

Damian sat up after that, as much as he could with the heavy cuffs around his hands and legs. 

“Where are we?” Damian asked quietly, scanning his surroundings. It was a large chamber, dimly lit and reeking of danger. Something about the smell of the place reminded him of a corpse. There was also something more that made Damian’s hair stand on ends, a half-formed memory that he could not seem to properly grasp.

“Dunno,” Maya replied, frowning, “We were exploring the city, last I remember.”

Damian remembered that, as well. He was teaching Maya and Suren to traverse the city along the rooftops. He was considering revealing his real name to them. Then…

Damian tensed, just as footsteps echoed around the chamber. 

The figure was clothed in black, tall and burly. 

“D,” Maya whispered, “Do you know this guy?”

He did. The man removed his mask, and smirked with Lazarus-green eyes.

There was a dull pain at the centre of his chest. A phantom pain.

“Remember when I mentioned dying?” Damian whispered to his friends. “Now is not the time, D,” Suren hissed, but Damian shook his head.

“I wasn’t joking. This man is my killer.” 

The figure chuckled, menacing and rasping, reverberating in an eerie, unnatural way. “Aren’t you a smart one, brother?” the man sneered. 

“You are _not_ my brother,” Damian snarled back. Their cuffs abruptly came loose, and they jumped to their feet, immediately taking up defensive stances beside each other.

“Okay, that’s a nice clarification,” Maya quipped, “But if he isn’t your brother, who _is_ he?”

“My clone,” Damian intoned bluntly, glaring down the older version of himself, “Talia created this man as a perfect clone of me. She turned him into a weapon.”

“She made much more than a weapon,” The Heretic corrected darkly, “But enough of that; I’m here to finish the job - it must be an Al Ghul trait, to refuse to stay dead.”

~

Damian’s comms went down an hour ago.

Tim was pacing restlessly, glancing constantly at his tracking programme. He nearly growled when the programme failed once again. He may have used more force than strictly necessary when restarting the programme, because Kon was looking at him with a mixture of confusion and bemusement.

“David’s probably fine, Tim,” Kon reassured him. It was just the two of them in the Tower - the younger Titans-in-training were not around at the moment. Tim stopped his pacing just to glare at his friend, before he resumed his steps. Back and forth, constantly passing the screen of his laptop.

“I know he probably is,” Tim agreed, because Damian was well-trained and equipped to deal with nearly anything. It was the “nearly” that had Tim concerned. His gut was telling him that his little brother was in danger, and that was not a good sign. 

Damian should still be trackable, at the moment. That Tim had no idea whether his brother was even in the city was concerning. 

Tim frowned down at his laptop as the “ERROR” message appeared once more. He put a hand to his comms.

“Oracle,” Tim called, and Kon was definitely frowning in judgement. Tim ignored him. “Can you track down Canvas?”

“Isn’t he supposed to be out with Nobody and the Darga kid?” Oracle questioned, even as typing was heard on her end. She paused. “Nothing,” Oracle stated solemnly, “I’ll continue looking. Do you know what happened?”

“No,” Tim huffed out in frustration, “I-”

There was a thump from the rooftop, along with a high-pitched, reverberating screech.

Kon was already out the door. Tim followed quickly behind. “Was that Goliath?” Oracle asked incredulously, “What’s his pet doing at the tower?”

Tim burst onto the rooftop, where Kon was staring in stunned awe at the large beast. Tim walked past his friend’s stock-still form, ignoring Kon’s shout as he walked straight up to Goliath, scanning the dragon-bat for signs of life, signs of fighting.

Goliath was uninjured, and had come alone. Goliath sniffed at him, made an urgent squealing noise, and turned so that its back was facing Tim.

“Oracle, Code Bat,” Tim spoke sharply, and climbed onto the beast’s back, “I repeat, Code Bat. Goliath came without Canvas. Track me while Goliath brings me to his location. Something’s happened.”

Tim turned back towards Kon, signalling to Goliath to wait.

“Stay here,” Tim ordered, “If I don’t contact you in an hour, you can come look for me. I’ll explain once this is over.”

~

Maya and Damian were left fighting The Heretic. Suren had been knocked out early on, lying unconscious on the floor.

“You won’t be able to win,” The Heretic hissed, slashing at them with terrifying speed and accuracy, “Just give up and stop struggling like blundering fools.”

Damian was slowly gaining more and more slashes from the man’s sword, ripping straight through his body armour with precise strokes. The man was toying with them, he knew. Maya hardly had a scratch - he would destroy Damian first, and then it would be his friends.

Suren shifted, the smallest movement, but it was enough. He met Damian’s gaze, a brief second, and there was a glint in his eyes.

Damian shifted, moving closer and closer to Suren. Maya caught on quickly, falling back towards where Suren was as Damian was pushed back by The Heretic’s flurry of attacks.

“I will give you a slow and painful death,” The Heretic growled. He caught Damian’s arm in a tight hold, and Damian bit back a scream at the sharp _snap_ of his bone. He still deflected the next blow, and the next, before Suren yelled, “Now!”

Damian rolled out of the way, jostling his injury and making his head spin in pain, but he still rose into a fighting stance as Suren chanted a spell at The Heretic. He had summoned fire to surround the man, enough to keep him still as he finished his spell. There was a green flare, before The Heretic’s body dropped like a ragdoll.

“His revival was temporary,” Suren explained, as they edged towards The Heretic’s still-trembling form, “He was already dying at a rapid pace. I just removed the rest of the unstable magic.”

The nearly-inanimate body jerked, growling at the trio. The sickly green eyes locked onto Damian.

“I will come for you, Al Ghul,” The Heretic hissed, “Watch yourself.”

The body went limp.

“He’s dead,” Suren declared. He kicked the man’s head for emphasis, and jumped when the head rolled off, the stitches along his neck coming loose. Maya swore colourfully and pulled both boys back a few steps.

Damian made Suren burn the body, just to be sure. He swayed on his feet, and ended up leaning heavily on Maya’s shoulder. Blood loss, Damian knew.

“The barrier has been removed,” Suren reported, just as a loud thump resounded from outside the building. Goliath. His brother was here. 

Damian pursed his lips and spoke before he could stop himself.

“Damian.”

Maya and Suren snapped their gazes sharply towards their friend, who was slumping further. Damian smirked through a grimace.

“My name. Damian. Damian Wayne.”

Damian’s eyes slid shut to his friends’ yells. Another voice joined them, familiar and comforting.

“Hang on, Dami,” Tim whispered, “Just hang on.”

~

“I was unaware of Da- Damian’s paternal side having such a public reputation,” Suren commented, frowning at the large manor up the driveway, “Are you sure we should be here?”

“We’ll leave if they don’t let us in,” Maya decided, and rang the doorbell before either of them could change their mind.

There was a buzz from a small speaker. “Wayne Manor,” came a polished British voice, “May I ask who this is?”

“Maya Ducard,” Maya stated, “And I’m with Suren Darga. We want to see Damian.”

There was silence for a few beats. “Did Damian ever mention his family knowing about Canvas?” Suren whispered.

Maya snorted. “Where do you think he got his uniform and weapons from?” Maya shot back. 

She also thought back to Red Robin’s protective hold on Damian, the moment he found them. How Goliath had come with Red Robin, meaning Goliath knew the vigilante, and knew where to find him.

The speaker beeped, and the gate clicked open. They made it to the front door, where an aged man wearing a suit greeted them with the same polite tones.

Maya made it two steps down the corridor before a petite form blocked her way.

“Are you Maya and Suren?” the girl questioned brightly, bouncing on her heels as she grinned up at her. Suren edged behind Maya, staring at the girl in confusion.

“That’s us,” Maya nodded, just as pounding steps rounded the corner. A boy jogged up to them, his red hair bouncing with every step. “You guys are Dami’s world-tour buddies?” he asked hopefully, looking between Maya and Suren as if he recognised them.

Maya and Suren shared a glance and nodded slowly. The two strangers shared a high-five.

“I’m Colin,” the boy introduced himself, then gestured to the girl, “This is Maps. We’re Dami’s friends.” 

He grinned, “Not saying that you two aren’t, but we’ve known him for much longer. He’s told us a lot about you two.”

Maps had taken hold of both of their hands and was tugging them down the corridor. Suren had jerked slightly in surprise, but Maps was unbothered. “He’s in the living room, right now,” Maps chirped, “He was too stubborn to stay in bed, the idiot.”

“Sounds like him,” Maya agreed amusedly, as they were led into the already-occupied room.

“Dami!” Maps yelled, bouncing over to the sofa, “Your friends are here!”

“What?” came the sharp response, and a head poked out from behind the sofa. Unmasked eyes greeted them - green, but in a natural way, like the colour of leaves. The eyes widened and his head jerked, only to be pulled back onto the sofa with a disgruntled noise.

“You’re not supposed to be moving,” a voice scolded. Maya rounded the couch to find Damian being held - cuddled - by a young man. Damian’s arm was in a cast, and she could see bandages peeking out from under his shirt, but her friend was safe and recovering well, and that was all she could hope for. 

“Richard Grayson,” the man offered without prompting, smiling pleasantly, “My friends call me Dick.”

“Let go,” Damian huffed at him, trying but failing to wriggle out of the man’s grip. Maya hid her smile. He wasn’t trying that hard.

Dick did let go eventually, shifting Damian onto the couch. Maps and Colin immediately took his place, and then they shifted until there was extra space before grinning at Maya and Suren. Somehow, they managed to fit everyone on the couch. 

“I take it you have questions,” Damian started slowly, from where he was resting comfortably beside Maya. Suren snorted while Maya hummed her agreement.

“Just start from the beginning, I guess. Or wherever you think you should.”

Damian tutted, and started speaking.


	2. Kon has a mild breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim reveals his identity to Kon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ceceism, you were spot on! XD It’s like you read my mind

Tim had visited Kon’s home before. Back when they were new Titans, Kon had dragged all of them to his home for a meal and to unwind from all the changes happening around them.

Today, visiting the same farmhouse felt decidedly different.

Tim pulled up to the farmhouse on his bike, and he had barely removed his helmet before the door swung open. Kon waited for him at the porch, his arms folded tightly together.

“Is your brother home?” Tim questioned, adjusting his sunglasses as he stepped into the cozy home. He spotted Clark Kent at the dining table, with Lois Kent.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am, Sir,” Tim greeted formally, nodding at them as Kon guided him up the stairs to his bedroom. He caught Clark hiding a smile under his hand.

“Jon’s at school,” Kon answered, once they were in his bedroom. He leaned forward with a frown, “Alright, Tim. You’ve made me wait for this explanation, so this better be good.”

“Right,” Tim nodded sharply, exhaling forcefully. 

_Well, here goes nothing._

“Firstly,” Tim reached for his sunglasses, Kon’s eyes widening but not averting as Tim removed them. He blinked at his friend, feeling strangely exposed, and smiled shyly.

“Tim Drake-Wayne,” he spoke after a beat, and Kon’s eyes narrowed sharply, “Nice to meet you for real, Kon.”

“Wayne,” Kon parroted, and paused for a long moment. He jumped up and started pacing about his bedroom.

“You’re from Gotham,” Kon thought aloud, shaking his head, “You’re a Gothamite. Holy shit, you live in that hellhole.”

Tim made a sound of offense in his throat even as Kon rambled on.

“You’ve been doing this for ages, Tim, and without your parents knowing? No, wait, but if you’re Tim Drake-Wayne, you’ve been adopted by Bruce Wayne. Does Bruce know what you do? Wait,” he paused, turning to face his friend with eyes blown wide, “You work with Batman, don’t you? Like, honest to goodness work with him. No wonder you went out of your way to prove Batman was still alive.”

Tim was stifling his laughter with his hand, but the stink-eye that Kon gave him meant he could still hear the quieted snorts. That just made Tim laugh even harder.

Kon cursed at himself, muttering under his breath before meeting Tim’s eye again - and it was weird, to be greeted with clear blue eyes twinkling with mirth instead of a shaded lens.

“Batman is your mentor,” Kon stated, and waited for Tim to nod before he continued, “We all saw that video from the robot fiasco. You’re in there, aren’t you? Which one are you?”

“The one with the gliding wings,” Tim answered, and Kon already had his phone out to check the footage. He mumbled several more curses under his breath as he squinted at the video, replaying it three times before setting it back down.

“Please don’t tell me the others in that video are your brothers,” Kon near-pleaded at his friend. Tim smirked, “Believe what you want, but remember my ‘cousin thrice removed’? She’s the blonde-haired Batgirl.”

Kon stared blankly for a few moments, mouthing “Batgirl” before replaying the footage again, and groaning. 

“I’m guessing the Robin myth is real too, then?” Kon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I just thought you liked the bird, or something. The only reason I know about that Gotham myth is because my Pa gossips frequently about your city.”

Tim rolled his eyes at that. 

Eventually, the two of them sat themselves down on the floor, Kon staring into space and mouthing things underneath his breath as he sorted through his thoughts, and Tim texting Jason about breakfast foods that he liked - Jason still owed him breakfast meals. Kon would pipe up from time to time with another question, and Tim would provide an answer.

“What was that red reptile thing that you flew off on?”

“His name’s Goliath. He’s Canvas’ pet dragon-bat.”

“... O-kay. Moving on.”

They lasped into another silence.

“Red Hood,” Kon blurted suddenly, and Tim looked up curiously. Kon’s eyes were narrowed. “You’ve always been way too comfortable around that guy for my liking. Don’t tell me he’s your brother?”

Kon’s face darkened, “What kind of brother beats his sibling up and leaves them to bleed out?”

Tim sighed. He was waiting for this question. 

“Long story short, Jason was found by the wrong people,” Tim explained carefully, “He had to do their dirty work if he wanted to escape from their grasps. They wanted to know if I had any connections, any secret mentors that would come running if I got badly injured.”

“Before I was Robin - before I became Alvin Draper, with my own costume - Jason was Robin. He recognised me as his successor, so he warned us ahead of time not to activate Code Bat - it’s our failsafe, basically. If it concerns ourselves or Gotham, if we can’t get our teammates to help us, Code Bat means we’ll have backup no matter what.”

Kon listened in disbelieving silence. Tim sighed, and pulled out his phone again.

“Jason is my brother,” Tim spoke softly, pulling up a video to show Kon, “And he’s a damn good one, too.”

Tim had successfully bargained for the video of Christmas day from Steph. The angle was shaky, moving slightly to keep track of the young man and boy messing about in front of the colourful Christmas lights illuminating the tree.

“That’s Damian,” Tim pointed out, “He’s-“

“Canvas,” Kon realised, watching as Damian darted too close to Jason, and the older man wrapped his arms around the kid’s torso. They rolled and wrestled on the floor for a moment before they came to a stop, laying there with content laughter. The video cut.

“Believe what you want,” Tim stated finally, and Kon could see the hard resolve in his eyes, “But let me remind you that Jason sedated all of you instead of actively injuring you. He only injured me, and I was up and about within a week. Jason knew what he was doing back then, and I vouch for him. I trust him.”

Kon mused, silently, that Tim’s trust was a very weighty thing.

“Alright,” Kon relented, and smiled as Tim perked up in triumph, “Fine. I believe you. He tries anything, though, and I won’t hesitate to take him down, ‘kay?”

“Yeah,” Tim beamed, and somehow his expression felt brighter without his sunglasses. He grinned, and Kon easily caught the mischievous tilt to his lips.

“I need you to help me keep this a secret so that I can surprise the others,” Tim whispered, despite there being none of their teammates in the near vicinity, “I actually did want to surprise all of you one by one, but I just didn’t expect to tell you, so soon.”

Kon huffed, but nodded his assent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tim is referencing the events of [Protect Our Own](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28071438) when talking to Kon! Damian and Jason wrestling happened in [Cherish The Present](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28315410)! :)
> 
> I have unfortunately exhausted my backlog of fics - I don’t know if I’ll be posting tomorrow, but you’ll probably see me soon XD I’m writing as much as I can before this month ends and responsibilities kick me in the face!


End file.
